Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence institute has been in the lookout for life beyond planet earth for nearly 30 years. And they are hopeful that within the next 20 years, they will be successful in their goal. Astronomers from SETI told Congress members that budget cuts could jeopardize their efforts. "At least a half-dozen other worlds besides Earth that might have life are in our solar system. The chances of finding it, I think, are good, and if that happens, it'll happen in the next 20 years, depending on the financing," astrobiologist Seth Shostak said to the House Science and Technology Committee.
There are several approaches in use by scientists to pin point at signs of life in the solar system and beyond. Scientists are on the lookout for traces of methane and oxygen, as presence of these two gases signal a favorable environment that could foster life. Another method is monitoring radio waves and other types of waves in space because it is generally considered that intelligent life form elsewhere will also have the means to send radio waves, just like us.
Intercepting unintentional signal leaks from other planets could also reveal the existence of intelligent life forms. According to SETI billions of planets in the Milky Way galaxy alone fit the bill of "habitable" planets. And the opportunities for life to exist and evolve outside our galaxy is also quite numerous because there are billions of galaxies with trillions of habitable planets.
The longest running SETI project is operated by UC Berkeley. They also operate the SETI@home project which allows the public to use their computers to search for radio signals that might indicate at alien life form. The data for SETI@home is collected through Arecibo Telescope in Puerto Rico.
Source : http://yottafire.com/2014/05/discovery-of-extra-terrestrial-life-will-only-take-20-years/
